Yacht Design Paul De Saint Front

In 1985 wooden boatbuildingindustry was going through a difficult period of adjustment. Modern materials and manufacturing practices were threatening the age old craft and art of wooden boat building. There was no proper classic boat building school in all of France, and opportunities to apprentice in one of the few remaining classic schools elsewhere in the world were very rare.

Lance Leestarted the Wooden Boat Revival with his Apprenticeshop in the mid 70’s and by 1986 the Marine Museum of Douarnenez also launched an apprenticeship program as well (link to their museum).

In 1986 Paul was one of the first apprentices of Atelier de L’enfer, and in 1991 he joined Lance Lee in the USA for a two year apprenticeship.

On the mean time, he sailed aboard the three mast “Belem” as a Carpenter, and Sailing Instructor, and was involved in several boat building projects learning his craft from experience and the instruction of Masters.

Since then Paul has built and restored many fine boats, while following many other boat building projects with great interest and attention. He is a contributing member of the boat building community and has participated in the social networking and development of the boat building community and its resources here in Asia

The latest boat built by Paul was the Papillon, which enjoyed great success in France. She was built in radius chine with marine plywood and strip planking. Paul was also involved with FRP and steel construction projects as a naval architect, and enjoys exploring modern techniques of boatbuilding.

Paul recognizes emerging technology and potential in the Bamboo materials industry. In the near future Paul expects processed bamboo materials to be a part of the wooden boat building industry as they offer great strength, and light weight options for design and manufacture.